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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



IT N I N 
WITH THE CHURCH, 

THE 

SOLEMN DUTY, 

AND 

THE BLESSED PRIVILEGE, 

OF ALL 

WHO WOULD BE SAVED. 



REV. hJ^IkBAUGH, 

w 

author of heaven, or the sainted dead; the heavenly 

recognition; the heavenly home; the 

birds of the bible, etc. 



"He that Lath not the Church for his Mother, 
hath not God for his Father." 



SbeconTr 3EMtfon, 3&cbtseU 

PHILADELPHIA: 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON. 
1856. 
















Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by 

LINDSAY & BLAKISTON, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 
the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

STEREOTYPED BY J. EAGAN PRINTED BY C. SHERMAN & SON. 



PREFACE. 



There are a number of well-meaning 
persons who remain out of the Church of 
Jesus Christ. The Author has long be- 
lieved that this is owing, not to a lack of 
sincere interest in religion, but almost 
wholly to difficulties which present them- 
selves to sincere inquirers — difficulties 
which will readily vanish when properly 
considered. To such honest-minded per- 
sons, this little volume affectionately offers 
its aid. 

It makes no abstruse theological preten- 
sions, but is designed to meet difficulties 
as they actually exist in the minds of 

men. Its object is wholly practical. 

(3) 



IV PREFACE. 

This Treatise, in the former pamphlet 
edition, has had the good effect of con- 
vincing some, and of persuading them to 
unite with the Church. Pastors and 
Christian friends have been pleased to 
say, that it is well adapted, in its style and 
argument, to meet an existing want. At 
their request, it has been revised and pub- 
lished again, in a better dress; and it is 
devoutly hoped it may do good. 

The Author would yet ask, of those 
into whose hands this little Book may fall, 
as a special favor, that they will be so 
kind as to lend it to thinking persons 
around them, who are yet out of the 
Church. 

Lancaster, Pa., November 16th, 1855. 



PAET FIEST. 



DIFFICULTIES REMOVED. 



(5) 



PART FIRST. 

DIFFICULTIES REMOVED. 

Will You read this Little Book? 

Introductory. 

I take it for granted that you, who are 
just now commencing to read this little 
book, are a sincere person. You desire to 
do right, and to live right. You believe 
in the Bible, and in the Christian religion.* 
You often meditate seriously on your pros- 
pects in regard to the eternal world. You 
desire to be honest and faithful "with your 
own soul. I believe, therefore, that you 
will solemnly and candidly weigh the 
matter to which I desire to call your atten- 
tion. Though I have never seen your 
face, and may never see it in this world, 

(7) 



8 INTRODUCTORY. 

yet I feel an interest in your comfort on 
earth, and in your salvation in heaven. It 
is this which impels me to write these 
things to you. Friend ! please read this 
little book. 

Have you ever made a public profession 
of religion ? Do you belong to some 
branch of the Christian Church, as a 
regular member ? If you do not, will you 
listen to me, while I endeavor to prove to 
you, that it is your duty, and the duty of 
all men, to connect themselves in a regu- 
lar, public, and orderly manner with the 
* Church of Christ ? 

You have no doubt often thought on 
this subject; and perhaps you have been 
more or less troubled in regard to it. It 
may be that you are at this moment unde- 
cided as to what you ought to do, or what 
you will do. This matter may have rested 
upon your mind for years, as has often 
been the case with others; for one year 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

hastens fast after another, and ten or 
twenty years of our life are quickly left be- 
hind, and soon old age and death threaten 
us. There is nothing that we are so apt 
to put off as coming to a decision on some 
religious matter. I once knew a man 
whose mind had been seriously exercised 
on the subject of his duty to unite with 
the Church for fifteen years ! He delayed 
the solemn decision for so long a time. If 
this has been your case, I hope and believe 
that you will come to a speedy and a right 
decision, if you will read on, with a sin- 
cere desire to find the truth. Even if you 
have already decided never to join the 
Church, I still believe you will change 
your mind when you carefully consider this 
subject in its true scriptural light. 

I can easily believe that you have de- 
layed thus long for some reason which you 
consider a good one. No one acts without 
reason, unless he is intentionally wicked. 



10 INTRODUCTORY. 

Those who are sincere and yet neglect 
duty, do it because they think they have 
found some reason which, makes it proper 
for them so to do. The reason, then, why 
you have delayed, is because there is in 
your mind, some ground which you con- 
sider good, upon which you believe your- 
self justifiable. There is some difficulty 
in your way. When, either your own 
mind, or some person, or perhaps the 
Bible, urges this duty upon you, you meet 
the plea with some objections or difficulties 
by w T hich you excuse yourself. 

Let us consider these, and see whether 
one or other of the following objections do 
not keep you back. Let us see, too, 
whether they cannot be satisfactorily an- 
swered. 

How, I earnestly beg you not to lay this 
little book aside, but to read on with an 
honest desire to know what is your duty 
in the case. It is a subject of sufficient 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 11 

solemnity to claim your most serious con- 
sideration. Shall you live and die out of 
Christ's Church ? Oh ! what momentous 
and eternal consequences hang upon your 
decision of this question ! 



I DO NOT KNOW WHICH CHURCH IS RIGHT. 

The First Objection. 

Here is your first difficulty. You say : 
There are bo many churches — which is the 
right one, and which one shall I join ? 

We freely confess that the Church is 
divided into many parts, and we mourn 
over it. It is a great evil ; and those who 
are the means of dividing it are certainly 
very guilty before God. Christ instituted 
only one Church, and it is His will that 
there should be but one fold, as there is 
also but one Shepherd — one body, as there 
is but one Head. One of the greatest evils 



12 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

which result from the division of the 
Church is, that it keeps so many back 
from joining it. Therefore, to such as aid 
in causing its divisions, the solemn words 
of our Saviour must be applied: "Wo 
unto that man by whom the offence 
cometh !" 

Grant, then, that the Church is divided, 
and that this is a great evil: it does not 
destroy it. The Church still exists ; di- 
vided as the branches, yet still one as the 
tree. Any one who reflects charitably and 
earnestly on this subject, must confess that 
the Church can still exist, does exist, and 
is still one Church, under all these divi- 
sions. 

We will endeavor to show that this is 
the case. The Scriptures compare the 
Church to a human body. Christ is the 
head. The Church is the body. We are 
the members of that body. Now, though 
these members are various in their posi- 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 18 

tions and uses, they are still all pervaded 
by one life. The judgment of the head, 
and the emotion of the heart, may mani- 
fest themselves variously through the body 
and its members, yet the life of it is but 
one life. There may be various weak- 
nesses and defects in the body and its 
members, which very much hinder it, but 
do not destroy its life. The eye may see 
dimly, the ear may hear faintly, the taste 
may be defective, and some of the limbs 
may be feeble; and yet all these do not 
entirely destroy the inner life of the man. 
They deface his beauty, enfeeble his 
strength, and make him less agreeable to 
others, but still he is a man. So it is with 
the Church ; her divisions make her feeble, 
destroy her beauty, and hinder her effi- 
ciency, but do not destroy her existence. 

Some branches of the Church are no 
doubt less pervaded with the life of reli- 
gion than others. Some are more in error 
A 



14 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

than others — and this will also make some 
branches better than others ; just as we 
sometimes see some branches of a fruit 
tree less fresh and growing than others. 
The fruit, on those branches which, have 
least sap and life, will not be so good and 
beautiful and perfect as it is on others, and 
yet the life of the tree is in all, more or 
less. Or, comparing the Church to a soil, 
into which w r e are planted, and in which 
we are to grow, w^e may say, that plants in 
some soils grow r less perfect than they do 
in others; and so it is with the Church. 
Those branches of it w^hich hold most, 
truth, which are nearest in all things to 
our Saviour, are the best — in them we w r ill 
flourish most as Christians, yet we cannot 
deny that there may also be persons 
planted in other Christian soil, who also 
grow in grace and in the knowledge of 
Christ. 
The Apostle says of Christians, "Ye 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 15 

are all one in Christ Jesus." They are not, 
however, all One in every respect. It is 
not said they are one in views — one in doc- 
trines — one in their ideas of Church gov- 
ernment—one in their practices, customs 
and services — one in their feelings and 
experiences ; but they are one in a deeper 
unity than any of these : they are one -in 
the life, grace, and power of Christ Jesus. 
All that are His children in deed and in 
truth, are in Him — in Him they exchange 
their sympathies in true charity, and in 
Him they form a perfect unity. They are 
in Him as the branches are in the vine — 
in Him, as the members are in the body — 
in Him, as grafts are in the stem-— in Him, 
as the roots of plants are in the ground, 
"rooted and grounded in Him" and grow- 
ing up in Him to the 'full stature of men. 
Thus it is easy to see that outwardly they 
may differ in many respects, yet in the in- 



16 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

ward, deeper life and power of religion, 
they are one in Christ Jesus. 

Christians may differ to some extent in 
doctrines, and yet be Christians. What is 
a doctrine ? The doctrines of the Scrip- 
tures which I hold, are the doctrines of 
the Scripture as I understand it. But I 
may "see only in part and know in part ;" 
or I may see in a wrong light in some re- 
spects. It maybe the truth which I see, 
and yet not the whole truth, or not exactly 
the truth. Another sees the same truth 
differently, or sees more of it than I do. 
That is his doctrine. Hence you see that 
two persons may hold the same doctrine, 
and yet hold it in some respects differently, 
The views of persons must vary as their 
intelligence varies. We may easily feel 
the power of a truth, even though we do 
not see the whole of that truth in all its 
relations and dependencies ; even as we 
may feel the heat of the fire when we do 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 17 

not see its light. Hence we are taught 
"above all things to put on charity." Did 
not even the Apostles differ in some points 
of doctrine, and yet they were all Chris- 
tians? Acts 15:1— 2. Gal. 2:11. Acts 
11 : 2-3. Acts 15 : 86—41. These differ- 
ences were about minor and outward mat- 
ters — they could not see alike; but was 
there not an inward unity, which still 
bound them to each other and to Christ, 
notwithstanding all their outward differ- 
ences ? 

Christians may differ even in the manner 
in which divinely appointed ordinances are 
to be used, and yet be one in Christ, and 
all in His Church. There may be a great 
variety of administration, without losing 
the substance of the ordinance itself. In 
regard, for instance, to the communion of 
the Lord's supper, the most solemn, impor- 
tant and interesting, of all the ordinances, 
there may be outward variety where the 
2* 



18 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

life, grace, spirit, and intent of the ordi- 
nance is still retained. One branch of the 
Church, for instance, prefers to celebrate it 
in the night, and attaches to it the ancient 
agapae, or love-feast, and even the Paschal 
lamb ; others lay no stress on any of these 
things. One receives the emblems kneel- 
ing, another standing, and still another 
sitting. One uses unleavened bread, an- 
other attaches no importance to this mat- 
ter and uses leavened. One breaks the 
bread, from a loaf, others use the wafer. 
One celebrates it monthly, another quar- 
terly, and others annually. Any one who 
attends the celebration of this blessed 
feast, in the different branches of the 
Church, will discover variety and differ- 
ence in great detail, in the outward admin- 
istration ; but would it be reasonable, 
would it be charitable, would it be scrip- 
tural, to say that, under any of these 
forms, it is not the Communion ? Cer- 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 19 

tainly not. " Now there are diversities of 
gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are 
differences of administration, but the same 
Lord ; and there are differences of opera- 
tions, but it is the same God which work- 
eth all in all." 1 Cor. 12 : 4—6. 

The same may be said of the Sacrament 
of Baptism. There is a great variety of 
administration as to the outward rite.— 
One prefers one mode, and another prefers 
another ; but all agree that it is to be done 
"with water," and "in the name of the 
Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." 
Who will say that the real substance of the 
sacrament is not retained under all this 
outward variety of administration ? If out- 
ward exactness were required, in all par- 
ticulars and details, it would have been so 
revealed. Just as in the Lord's Supper, 
we are told to eat bread and drink wine, 
but are not told whether we shall eat much 
or little, whether we shall do it sitting, 



20 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

kneeling or standing, whether we shall do 
it by day or by night; so in baptism, it is 
to be "with water" and in the Triune 
name, but it is not said that much water or 
little shall be used; whether the person 
shall kneel, stand, or sit ; whether it shall 
be applied three times or once. 

'Now we freely confess that such outward 
forms should never have divided the Church, 
and those who divided it on these accounts 
are guilty before God ; yet we insist upon 
it, that the substance of these ordinances 
may be retained under this outward variety. 
Hence you are not justifiable in remaining 
out of the Church, because these differences 
cf administration exist. 

Christians may differ also in their views 
of church government, and yet all be in the 
Church, under all these forms. The very 
fact that Christians differ in- what they con- 
sider the true form of church-government, 
is the best proof that no particular form is 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 21 

distinctly, and absolutely, and unchange- 
ably fixed in the Scriptures. That govern- 
ment and order shall exist in the Church, 
is clearly revealed ; and this all admit ; but 
what shall be its form, in all its details, is 
not revealed. The Church is not con- 
structed like a house, all the parts of which 
are at once perfect in the plan ; but it is 
like a tree, or human body, a living organ- 
ism, which perfects its parts in the process 
of its own growth towards perfection. The 
life of the plant or tree remains the same, 
and yet its outward form is constantly 
changing. The Church is always repre- 
sented as such — a living, progressive organ- 
ism. It is never compared in the Scrip- 
tures to any thing that has not life. Even 
where it is compared to a house or temple, 
the Apostle violates the common use of 
metaphors, in order to make it living. 
Thus: "Ye also as lively stones, are built 
up a spiritual house." 1 Pet. 2 : 5. And 



22 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

again we are told that in Christ " all the 
building fitly framed together, groweth unto 
an holy temple in the Lord." Eph. 2 : 21. 
Here we can easily see that the Church, as 
a whole, may have life for all, and carry 
power with her to govern, and yet the par- 
ticular mode and manner of government 
may be more or less conditioned by circum- 
stances. Thus the history of the Church 
is like a tree, whose outward shape is de- 
termined to a great extent from the place 
where it stands, and yet the inward life of 
the tree is ever the same, let it stand where 
it will, and let its shape be what it may. 
So in regard to the Church. It is in this 
respect in the Church just as it is in the 
State. Civil government is an ordinance 
of God ; " the powders that be are ordained 
of God." It is not, however, the form of 
government which is divine, but the power 
by which this form is to be animated. — 
Some form must of course exist, but God 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 23 

has not said which. The form may be an 
absolute monarchy, it may be a limited 
monarchy, it may be an aristocracy, it may 
be republican, democratic, or some mixture 
of any number of these ; and yet, under 
all these forms, God gives to the regular 
officers divine right to govern, administer 
laws, reward and punish. So it is in the 
Church. The form may be Episcopal, 
Presbyterial, Congregational, or some mix- 
ture of any of these ; and yet, under it, 
God gives the right to rule to those whom 
he has constituted office-bearers in the 
Church. We do not mean to say that all 
these forms are alike good, or that indi- 
vidual piety will flourish equally well under 
all of them; but we wish to say that a 
person may be a real Christian under any 
one of them ; and that therefore no one 
has a just excuse in remaining out of the 
Church because of this difference and 
variety of form. 



24 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

Christians may differ also in their customs 
and forms of service in worship. Some may 
make preaching most prominent; others 
may have more singing, more prayer. 
Some may be more formal, others more 
familiar and free. Some may be more 
quiet, others more spirited. Some may be 
more plain and simple, others more so- 
lemnly ceremonial. Some may worship 
under the magnificent Gothic arch, others 
in a farm-house, school-house, or grove; 
and yet all may worship Him who is a Spirit, 
in spirit and in truth. Again we would 
not say, that some customs and modes 
of service are not better adapted to the true 
spirit of worship than others, yet we de- 
voutly and charitably believe that among 
all these you may be a Christian. It is 
therefore your duty to connect yourself 
with that Church which, after a careful and 
prayerful examination, you believe to be 
nearest right, and among whom you believe 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 25 

you can be most useful to the world and 
the Church, and in which you can make 
the best advances in holiness. Then serve 
your God and your generation in humility 
and love; and towards all others put on, 
"above all things/' that charity which 
"beareth all things, believeth all things, 
hopeth all things, endureth all things, and 
which never faileth." The hull is not as 
good as the kernel, and the bark is not the 
tree, therefore despise not him who differs 
with you about outward things. Cultivate 
a deeper and more inward fellowship with 
Him. According to the Apostle's beautiful 
advice, w r alk with Him in " all lowliness 
and meekness, with long-suffering, forbear- 
ing one another in love; endeavoring to 
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds 
of peace." Eph. 4 : 2— -3. Whenever you 
are tempted to narrow-hearted bigotry, call 
to mind the example of the Saviour. "And 
John answered and said, Master, we saw 
3 



26 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

one casting out devils in thy name ; and 
we forbade him, because he followeth not 
with ns. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid 
him not: for he that is not against us, is 
for us." Luke 9 : 49, 50. Are you not 
convinced, from these remarks, that though 
the divisions of the Church are an evil, 
yet they do not destroy the Church — that 
it still exists in all these divers branches — 
that it is still one in its deeper life and 
spirit, although some of its branches are 
more living than others, yet in any one of 
them, which you believe to be best, you 
may be a Christian — and that through it 
you may be connected with that kingdom 
of Christ which includes all saints, and out 
of which there are none which He acknow- 
ledges as his subjects. 

If you still persist in keeping out of the 
Church on the ground of this excuse, then 
permit me to ask whether you are con- 
sistent with your own views in this respect. 



THE FIRST OBJECTION. 27 

Do you refuse to belong to a government, 
as a regular citizen, because there are dif- 
ferent forms of government, and because 
all do not agree as to which is the best? 
Do you refuse to stand in connection, and 
to act in concert, with a political party, 
because there are other parties in politics? 
Yea perhaps you are a member of some 
benevolent society, though there are many 
other ones, having the same, or at least a 
similar, object in view. You hold certain 
views on subjects, though others hold dif- 
ferent views on the same subjects. You do 
not cease the business in which j t ou are 
engaged, because others do the same busi- 
ness in a different way. You perhaps even 
hope and strive in a certain way to get to 
heaven, though you know that others have 
different views on the same matter; why 
then do you refuse to join some branch of 
the Church, because there are others who 
differ, and choose to serve God in a w^ay 



28 THE FIRST OBJECTION. 

that is not outwardly the same in every 
respect? Certainly this is not consistent 
— it is not a reasonable course of conduct. 
If we would do nothing till all would agree 
as to hoiv it should be done, we would do 
little indeed. — We verily believe that, if 
you will carefully consider the matter in 
this light, you will be convinced that, to 
keep out of the Church because it is divided 
into different branches, is to do so without 
good reason. 

You can certainly find one or the other 
of these branches of the Church near 
enough to what you believe right, accord- 
ing to the Scriptures, to permit fellowship 
with them. Use your judgment prayer- 
fully, and then join in with some branch 
of Christ's kingdom on earth. 



the second objection. 29 

There are so many unworthy Professors. 
The Second Objection. 

There are so many bad professors of re- 
ligion. There are so many belonging to 
the Church who are not fit to belong to it. 
There are many in the Church who would 
better be out of it. Many make a loud 
profession, take the communion, and pre- 
tend to be religious in the Church and on 
the Sabbath, who are worse than I am. 

In some such form as this, an objection 
is expressed, and an excuse made, which is 
very common — perhaps more common than 
any other. You will certainly read on, 
while we examine this excuse ; and if you 
see that it affords no good reason for your 
remaining out of the Church, you will cast 
it away. 

First of all, then, we fully and freely 
confess that what you say is so. We make 
3* 



30 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

this confession sadly, and in deep humilia- 
tion. We lament sincerely that it is true. 
We believe also that this is one of the 
greatest evils which afflict the Church. An 
enemy within can always do more injury 
than an enemy without. The very fact 
that it is the cause of keeping so- many 
persons back from making a profession of 
religion, is one of the strongest proofs that 
it is a great evil. It is to those w T ho are in 
the Church in form, but out of it in heart 
and lif<5, that the Saviour's cutting reproof 
is administered : " Ye shut up the kingdom 
of heaven against men : for ye neither go 
in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that 
are entering, to go in." — Matt. 23:13. 
Such persons are in very truth offences or 
stumbling-blocks — for this is the scripture 
meaning of the w^ord offences — over which 
many of the world stumble into perdition, 
who, had not these been in their way, 
would have entered the kingdom. Hence 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 31 

the Saviour says, "AYo unto the world be- 
cause of offences !" It is the world, those 
who are in the world, that receive injury 
from such professors ; because they are 
kept out of the Church by their unworthy 
conduct. " It must need be that offences 
come." In the present state of the world, 
so full of evil men, it must need be that in 
some instances men of wicked hearts will 
find their way into the Church, to the dis- 
grace of religion — "But wo to that man 
by whom the offence cometh." What the. 
weight is of this wo — the Saviour's wo — 
the " wrath of the Lamb " — will be found 
out by actual experience, when God shall 
judge them in that great day which will 
reveal the secrets of the hearts of men. 
How awful to perish as members of the 
Church ! How awful from the very gate 
of Heaven to be cast down to hell ! 

Having now fully agreed with you that 
there are those in the Church who are a 



32 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

disgrace to it, and who are very guilty in 
the sight of God on "that account, we must 
still differ with you when you make this an 
excuse for remaining out of it. For — 

1. You will agree that they are not all 
such who are members of the Church. 
While I agree with you that there are 
many bad professors, you will agree with 
me, that there are many good ones. This 
cannot be denied. We will venture to say 
that you can point out many among your 
acquaintances whom you believe to be sin- 
cere, humble, devoted Christians — such as 
live up to their professions, as far as it is 
possible for them to do in a world so full of 
temptation and evil, and who show them- 
selves, in heart and life, as " Israelites 
indeed." You know some aged members 
of the Church, who have spent a long and 
steady life in devout service of God and 
man ; of whom you will be constrained to 
say, as they sink into the grave, that good 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 33 

men have fallen. You can also fix your 
mind on some among your acquaintances 
in middle life, who are devoting the full 
strength of manhood to God, in connection 
with the Church. You even know some 
in the bloom of youth, who have set aside 
youthful follies, and who are laying upon 
the altar of Christ, the first and warmest 
affections of their life, and who most de- 
voutly and sincerely do " remember their 
Creator in the days of their youth." You 
must confess that this is so. Is it not more 
reasonable then, and much wiser, to imitate 
the examples of these, than to stumble at 
those who are unworthy, to the eternal in- 
jury of your own soul? It will do you no 
good, in the day of Judgment, to say that 
there were hypocrites in the Church. The 
question will be, are you among the good ? 
It will be no comfort to be excluded from 
the heavenly kingdom ourselves, even if 
half of those in the Church shall meet the 



34 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

same fate. It is our duty to be, and to do, 
like the good in the Church, and not like 
the unworthy. If there are only a few 
that are on the narrow waj 7 , let us see to it 
that we are among that number. 

The very fact that there are so many 
who only say Lord, Lord, while they do 
not the will of our Father who is in hea- 
ven, makes it only the more necessary for 
others to profess religion in the right way. 
If many disgrace religion by a bad profes- 
sion, so much more important is it for you 
and I to honor it by a good one. God 
and His truth need true witnesses before 
men, and if these witnesses are few, are 
not we so. much the more called to stand 
out and witness for God and religion by a 
faithful and sincere profession ? If the 
country is in danger, and there are many 
traitors among those who are set for its 
defence, then it is the more our duty to fall 
into the ranks as true men. 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 35 

2. You demand too much, in asking 
that the Church shall be free from all un- 
worthy professors. If you stand on that 
ground, you would not have joined Christ 
while he was on earth ; nor would you 
have joined any of the Churches which the 
Apostles established, and to which they 
ministered. You know that there was 
one among the twelve, who betrayed him, 
who was a '• thief," a "son of perdition," 
one for whom it had been " better if he 
had never been born." There was another 
among them, who denied him three times, 
and with "cursing and swearing." But 
this did not injure the rest of the disciples. 
They did not stand away from Christ on 
that account. They, though they were in 
such company by profession, were never- 
theless as good men as ever lived. Christ, 
who knew their hearts — for He "knew 
what was in man," — walked in their com- 
pany, and He was not polluted by them. 



36 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

How then can you sincerely say, that it is 
a good excuse for you not to join the 
Church, because there are now and then 
those who betray and deny Christ ? No ; 
the more false friends He has, the more 
reason is there why we should cleave to 
Him as true friends. 

We find that in the apostolic Churches 
there were professors who disgraced their 
profession. Let any one read the Epistles, 
and he will find many allusions to persons 
who endeavored to hide the worst of 
crimes under the cloak of an outward pro- 
fession of religion. At Rome there were 
those to whom Paul says : " The name of 
God is blasphemed among the gentiles 
through you." Eom. 2, 24. In the 
Church of Corinth there was one who was 
guilty of a crime that " is not so much as 
named even among the Gentiles. " 1 Cor* 
5, 1. In the same Church, while they met 
to partake of the Lord's Supper, they ran 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 37 

into such extravagant excesses that the 
Apostle charges them with turning this 
solemn ordinance into a feast of gluttony 
and drunkenness. " One is hungry and 
another is drunken. What ! have ye not 
houses to eat and drink in ? or despise ye 
the Church of God !" 1 Cor. 11, 21-22. 
He also warns them against eating and 
drinking at the Lord's Supper unworthily, 
and plainly declares that some of them did 
so. " For this cause many are weak and 
sickly among you y and many sleep." v. 30. 
To the Philippian Church he writes in sad- 
ness, thus : " For many walk (that is with 
Christians by profession,) of whom I have 
told you often, and now tell you even 
weeping, that they are the enemies of the 
Cross of Christ." Phil. 3, 18. 

When these unworthy professors were 

guilty of open and public crimes, they 

were expelled from the Church. This was 

the duty of the proper officers of the 

4 



38 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

Church ; and it is still their duty. Per- 
haps you say, they do not perform this 
duty. If they do not perform their duty, 
that is their sin, and not yours. If these 
unworthy professors are outwardly regular, 
so that the discipline of the Church cannot 
take hold of them, though they are in- 
wardly hypocrites, then they come under 
the Saviour's rule in the parable of the 
tares and wheat : "Let both grow together 
until the harvest. " If we are only wheat, 
all will be right, even though we stand 
among tares. 

It is very plain, then, to any reasonable 
person, that there were unworthy profes- 
sors in the Church in the time of Christ, 
as well as in the apostolic Churches ; but 
at the same time there were also good 
Christians among them. "We do not hear 
that any persons refused, in that day, to 
join them on this account. The Church 
will exist, no doubt, to the end, as mixed — 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 39 

there will no cloubt be tares among the 
wheat at the dreadful hour when the last 
trumpet shall sound, and when God shall 
send forth the final reapers ! Matt. 7, 22, 
23. 

What if we are in the Church among 
Judases, and "such as have a form of god- 
liness but deny the power?'' Our own 
example, if it is of the right kind, will 
only be the more impressive to others, 
even as stars shine more brightly the 
darker the night. The real beauty of a 
consistent religious life will be the better 
seen in us, in contrast with their evil 
works. In this way the wrath of man will 
be made to praise God, and it will be seen 
that He in infinite wisdom is 

" From seeming evil still educing good." 

"For there must be also heresies among 
you, that they which are approved may be 
made manifest among you." In this view 



40 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

how beautiful is the exhortation of the 
Apostle to you and to me : " Be blameless 
and harmless, the sons of God, without 
rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and per- 
verse nation, among whom ye shine as 
lights in the road." Phil. 2, 5. let us 
seek to do this, let others do as they will. 

3. We must not too uncharitably judge 
those who are professors of religion. We 
must not entirely condemn them because 
we discern imperfections and weaknesses 
in their life and conduct. Lord, are we 
not all dust and ashes? Who will cast 
the first stone at his erring brother? Alas ! 
who art thou that judgest another so 
rashly — so severely? Oh! how beautiful 
is the prayer 

" The mercy I to others show— 
That mercy show to me." 

We would not, in any degree, justify 
the failings of Church members ; but we 
must ask in reason and in charity, that 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 41 

they be not absolutely condemned as grace- 
less children of Satan, except by one who 
is himself perfect. If this course is pur- 
sued, we feel sure that many, who are now 
so harsh in judgment, would silently with- 
draw without pronouncing condemnation, 
and the "weak brethren," who have fallen 
into sin would be left alone with the Sa- 
viour: who would say to them, "neither 
do I condemn thee: depart, and sin no 
more !" 

In judging professing Christians, it must 
be remembered that their faults and fail- 
ings are generally outward and public — 
they are seen on that side of their lives by 
which they come in contact with the rough 
and bewitching world — but their penitence 
is generally in secret. You see the incon- 
sistency of a public act of wrong in them, 
which was perhaps committed in circum- 
stances of peculiar trial and temptation, 
but you do not see the tears of penitence 
4* 



42 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

which that same person sheds over his 
faults in secret. Your eyes are not upon 
him when in the solitude of the night he 
bemoans his failings, "makes his bed to 
swim," and "waters his couch with his 
tears !" No, you see him not in his closet, 
when he has "shut to the door;" and 
when, in bitter confession and penitence, 
he asks his "Father which seeth in secret" 
to pardon his offences ! Thus, because you 
see only the outside, and that the worst 
side of his character, while the best is hid, 
you may do him wrong in judging him too 
severely. Condemn him not as a graceless 
man for a few outward acts of inconsis- 
tency, till you are quite sure that he does 
not mourn over them in secret, and pray 
for forgiveness to that Saviour with whom 
is forgiveness, and who, when he was 
asked how often we should forgive our 
brother, said : " I say not unto thee, until 
seven times : but, until seventy times 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 43 

seven." Matt. 18 : 22. See also Luke 17 : 
3-4. 

There are great mistakes made in 
judging others,. by not keeping this fact in 
view. There are many, for instance, who 
blame David for his great sin, and they do 
so rightly ; but they are not so ready to 
give him credit for his sincere and humble 
confession of it, and for the deep penitence 
in which he turned to God for forgiveness 
in the 51st Psalm. So there are many 
who stumble at the errors of professors, 
and make it an excuse for remaining out 
of the Church, but never think of the 
" strong crying and tears," with which in 
secret they mourn over the wound which 
they have inflicted upon their own souls, 
and upon the cause of Christ. Is this just 
and right? Oh let us judge in charity, 
even of outward acts; and what is inward, 
let us leave that to Him "who searcheth 
the hearts and trieth the reins of the child- 
ren of men," and before whom "all things 



44 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

are naked and open." Above all, let us 
not neglect our own souls, and our own 
duties, because others are doing so. 

4. You do not join the. Church because 
there are so many bad and unworthy pro- 
fessors in it, but you do not act on this 
principle in other respects. Now, there 
are traitors in the nation — persons who 
break the laws, and who are unworthy of 
being called citizens ; and when even they 
are not guilty of acts which deprive them 
of citizenship, they are nevertheless bad 
citizens, and a disgrace to the nation : and 
yet you do not, on this account, refuse to 
become a citizen — you do not refuse to be- 
long to the nation, to place yourself under 
its laws, and to enjoy the privileges which 
it confers upon its worthy citizens, because 
there are traitors and unworthy citizens 
living in this great Republic. 

There is much counterfeit money and 
much bad money afloat, but you do not on 
thgtt account despise all money, count it an 



THE SECOND OBJECTION. 45 

evil thing in itself, and refuse to take that 
which is good. 

Science has its blemishes, its defects, and 
there are many who disgrace it, by abuse 
in using it for unworthy purposes; and yet 
you do not, on that account, consider know- 
ledge a bad thing in itself, and refuse 
fe^owship with those who are honoring it 
with their love and devotion, and who are 
united for its promotion in the world. 

Many families have bad and unworthy 
members — members who destroy its peace 
and comfort within, and who disgrace it 
before others; but you do not for that 
reason consider the family as evil, and 
refuse to make one in the family circle, and 
in the communion of domestic love. 

"Wheat, and all grain, has its tares, its 
defective growths, and its injurious mix- 
tures in many ways; but you do not there- 
fore consider grain-growing an evil thing 
— you do not cease to sow; and though 



46 THE SECOND OBJECTION. 

there are many farmers who are unworthy 
of that name, and who are a disgrace 
to the business, you are not, therefore, 
ashamed to be called by that name, and 
induced to desist from your regular pursuit 
of that business. 

Are not these illustrations sufficient to 
prove that in refusing to rank yours&lf 
among the professors of religion because 
there are bad members in the Church, you 
do not act consistently — you do not act on 
this principle in other things. It would be 
foolish if you did. Is it not plain, then, 
that an evil spirit, and perhaps an evil 
heart, are deceiving you in persuading you 
to lean, with the eternal interests of your 
soul, upon an excuse which, even in an 
earthly point of view, is not only baseless 
but absolutely foolish. Oh ! consider these 
things solemnly, and in the light of eter- 
nity. "What will it profit a man if he lose 
his own soul, even if ten thousand profes- 
sors of religion do the same ? 



THE THIRD OBJECTION. 47 

You see that this objection to joining 
the Church, has no solid ground. As one 
who sincerely seeks the truth, you are 
bound to cast it forever away. 



Religion does not consist in Outward 
Forms. 

The Third Objection. 

Some say, by way of excuse, that reli- 
gion does not consist in outward forms, 
but in dispositions of the heart ; and that 
therefore we can be just as good out of the 
Church as in it. 

Here again we fully agree that religion 
does not consist in outward forms— that the 
mere form of belonging to the Church, 
does not make us Christians, and that piety 
must dwell in the heart in all holy dispo- 



48 THE THIRD OBJECTION". 

sitions and affections. But if you say that 
it is an excuse to remain out of the Church 
because religion does not consist in out- 
ward forms, and that we can be as good 
out of the Church as in it, then I must 
differ with you, and give you my reasons ; 
and let me here again express the belief 
that, as an honest man, you will agree with 
me when you have given the matter a 
serious consideration. 

First of all, then, I must say, that to 
belong to a Church is not merely a form. 
The ordinances of the Church are not mere 
forms. God, who has instituted them, is 
no formalist. He does not mock us, by 
calling us to engage in empty ceremonies. 
These forms are designed as means to bring 
us near to God. Through these forms He 
meets us and we meet Him. He is in 
these forms with His Spirit and His grace. 
They are His own transactions with men ; 
and whenever we draw nigh unto Him 



THE THIRD OBJECTION. 49 

through them, He draws nigh to us in them. 
It is therefore wicked to say that what God 
has appointed as means and media of com- 
munication with Him are mere outward 
forms. True, we can use them as mere 
forms, as too many do, but that is not their 
design ; and, if we use them rightly, they 
are more than forms to us. 

Again : Those holy dispositions and af- 
fections of heart which make us acceptable 
to God are to be obtained by the use of the 
ordinances of the Church as means. It is 
God's order to give grace into our hearts 
in a certain way, and that way he has pre- 
scribed to us — this way requires us to use 
certain means. When we eat, for instance, 
we get strong ; but it is not the mere form 
of eating which gives us strength, it is the 
food which incorporates itself with our sys- 
tem, that replenishes our strength; and 
yet the form of eating is absolutely neces- 
sary as a means. So it is in the use of the 
5 



50 THE THIRD OBJECTION". 

means of grace ; it is not the outward form 
which gives us grace, but it is through the 
use of it that Gocl transmits grace into our 
souls. "When Naaman was sent to wash 
himself seven times in the Jordan, that he 
might be healed of his leprosy, it was not 
the form of washing which was to cure 
him, but he was to be cured in the use of 
this means — and he was not cured till he 
did it. He thought the waters of Damas- 
cus, might do just as well, but that was Ms 
way, not God's. So we may think that 
we can do just as well out of the Church, 
but that is our way and not God's. See 
II. Kings, 5. 

The inward and outward in religion, are 
bound together, and God sustains the one 
by the other. The spirit needs the form, 9 
and the form needs the spirit. If the spirit 
is not there, the form is dead ; and if the 
form is not used, the spirit departs. This 
truth can be seen everywhere. Everything 



THE THIRD OBJECTION. 51 

that lives on earth has both form and spirit. 
The tree- has an unseen hidden life, but 
also an outward form. The limbs and the 
bark are not the tree ; for without the in- 
ward life they would be dead; but it is 
equally true that the inward life could not 
exist if it were not for the outward form — 
the bark and the limbs ; take these away, 
and the life will soon withdraw. Now so 
it is in religion ; forms are not religion, but 
they are the outward signs of it, and they are 
necessary to it. If we take them away, 
the life and spirit of religion will not stay ; 
no more than the life of a tree will remain 
in it when the bark and the limbs are taken 
away. Who is he that would be wiser 
than God ? When He institutes forms and 
ordinances to bring us near to Him, who 
is he that says, we can be just as pious and 
acceptable to God without them ? You 
will certainly yield this point. 



52 THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 

I FEAR I COULD NOT KEEP MY VOWS. 

The Fourth Objection. 

You say you would join the Church, but 
you have seen many join that have not 
lived up to their vows, and you fear it 
might be the case with you ; and in this 
way you think you would commit more 
sin than by not joining at all. 

We agree with you fully that it is a 
great sin to profess, and then not live up 
to our professions and promises. "Better 
is it that thou shouldst not vow, than that 
thou shouldst vow and not pay." Eccl. 5 : 
5. It is certainly a good precept which 
Solomon gives: "Be not rash with thy 
mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to 
utter anything before God." It is, how- 
ever, not necessary that you should be rash 
in your promises ; neither is it necessary 



THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 53 

that you should vow and not pay. "We 
are not to do like those who thus vow; 
but we are to make a deliberate profession, 
and then honor it by a holy walk ; and for 
this God has pledged us His grace. 

It is, moreover, certain that your remain- 
ing oat of the Church does not increase 
your fitness; but every year lessens it. 
You are not to become holy and fit for 
heaven out of the Church, and then enter 
it merely for safe-keeping ; but you are to 
enter it, that you may have access to those 
means of grace, and use those helps, by 
which you are to grow in grace. The 
t Church, it has been well said, is not like a 
barn into which ripe sheaves are to be 
gathered, but it is like a garden in which 
plants are to be cultivated. On first enter- 
ing the Church you will, of course, be 
weak in faith, mere babes in Christ ; and 
there will be faintings and failings, and 
5* 



54 THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 

stumblings ; but these will gradually give 
way to strength and firmness. We have 
the promises of God to sustain us. In 
His house is bread from heaven, to 
strengthen us, and water of life to refresh 
us. " They that wait upon the Lord shall 
renew their strength." 20 : 40, 31. As 
children, they will find in their Father's 
house protection, food, and encourage- 
ment. " Those that be planted in the 
house of the Lord shall flourish in the 
courts of our God." Ps. 92 :1 3. Out of 
the Church we are " without Christ, being 
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, 
and strangers from the covenants of 
promise, having no hope, and without 
God in the world." As long as you are 
out of the Church, you are out of cove- 
nant with God, " aliens and strangers," 
and have no claim upon His blessings; 
and how, in that case, can you expect to 
have His favor; but in His Church, you 



THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 55 

are entitled to all that He has promised to 
those who are in covenant with Him. In 
the Church, you are regarded as members 
of His family, " children and heirs." Now 
you have a right to hope, for He says to 
us : " Now, therefore, ye are no more 
strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens 
with the saints, and of the household of 
God ; and are built upon the foundation 
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ 
Himself being the chief corner-stone ; in 
whom all the building fitly framed to- 
gether groweth unto an holy temple, in the 
Lord; in whom ye also are builded to- 
gether, for a habitation of God through 
the Spirit." Eph. 2 : 19-22. In such like 
assurances rests* your hope — assurances 
which you only have in the Church. 

That you shall come short in some 
things, through weakness, is almost cer-. 
tain. The holiest men of whom we read 
in the sacred Scriptures, were sometimes 



56 THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 

drawn into evil by the power of tempta- 
tion, and, the strength of their own remain- 
ing infirmities. Even Paul was sometimes 
ensnared by the law in his members, which 
warred against the law in his mind: so 
that the evil which he would not, that he 
did. But God is merciful to the weak- 
nesses of such as sincerely endeavor to be 
His. " "We have not an High-priest which 
cannot be touched with a feeling of our 
infirmities." Heb. 4 : 15, He will not 
cast us off for the first offence, when it is 
committed through weakness. "For as 
the heaven is high above the earth, so 
great is His mercy toward them that fear 
Him. He knoweth our frame : He remem- 
bereth that we are dust." Ps. 103 : 11, 14. 
"If any man sin, we have an advocate 
with the Father — Jesus Christ, the 
.righteous ; and He is the propitiation t for 
our sins." 1 John, 2 : 1. 

From these remarks you will see that 



THE FOURTH OBJECTION. 57 

the Church, insures and promises us the 
needed grace, whereby we may go on from 
strength to strength. It is designed and 
adapted to assist us in overcoming our 
weaknesses. You see also that even if in 
some things we fail through infirmities, 
God will not on that account cast us off, 
but give us His grace that we may not sin 
again. Thus the Church is a nursery of 
piety. It is God's family, in which His 
children, weak and strong, are protected, 
encouraged and blest ; and in which they 
grow up "unto perfect men, unto the 
measure of the stature of the fulness of 
Christ." Eph. 4 : 13. The Church is His 
fold, from which if any one stray, He 
straightway "leaveth the ninety and nine " 
that are safe, that He may go after it and 
bring it back. 

"While it shows a good spirit to express 
an humble distrust in ourselves, and enter- 
tain a fear lest we should not be able to 



58 THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 

keep our vows, we should not let this fear 
keep ns out of the Church. This would 
he like refusing to go to a full table and 
eat, for fear that we might not be enabled 
faithfully to use the strength thus derived 
in the right way. "We must begin to do 
our duty, and God will give us strength to 
go on in it. He gives us the promise of 
this beforehand, and He w T ill give us the 
needed grace as fast as we go on in the 
way. This He has not only promised, but 
He has actually performed His word*to 
thousands of them that have feared Hirn, 
and sought to keep his commandments. 



I AM NOT GOOD ENOUGH. 

The Fifth Objection. 

There are some who remain out qf the 
Church, because they think they are not fit 
to join. I do not consider myself prepared, 



THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 59 

or good enough. ; if I were a Christian, I 
would gladly join. 

You have wrong views of the Church. 
If you are to get all you need to make you 
a Christian without the aid of the Church, 
what use is there of the Church ? It is the 
same as if a hungry man, invited to a table, 
should say, If I were full and satisfied, I 
would then sit down and eat. The Church, 
like Christ himself, comes not to save the 
righteous, but sinners. It is for all who 
feel their need of Him. It is like an ark, 
those who would be saved, must come into 
it for that very purpose. They must not 
say, as the waters are gathering, If I were 
saved, I would enter it. No, enter it that 
you may be saved. The Church, as a 
mother, Gal. 4 : 26, is to give birth and 
spiritual nourishment to her children. The 
saints are born in her. Ps. 87 : 5. Tou are 
to be saved, not out of the Church, but in 
her. 



60 THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 

If you would be a Christian, you must 
use the means; these means are in the 
Church. First of all, you must be well in- 
structed in the things of religion. Place 
yourself under instruction. The truth is 
all-sufficient, when seriously attended to, 
under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to 
convince you that you are a sinner, and by 
nature lost; and thus your desire for sal- 
vation will be deepened, increased, and 
rendered solid. You will become truly 
penitent. What are you to do now ? You 
see that you are by nature lost: where is 
help and hope? Salvation is offered to 
you through Jesus Christ. Y^ou believe 
that He will save you, and you ask by what 
means ? You hear that He has instituted 
a Church, in which are the means of grace, 
by which he prepares sinful men for heaven. 
You ask, how can I enter into this system 
of grace ? The answer is, repent, believe, 
and be baptized. You are penitent — you 



THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 61 

do belive — then, if you have not been bap- 
tized, submit to baptism. Thus you enter 
the Church, and into covenant with God. 
If you have been baptized in infancy, you 
are already a member, and under a solemn 
obligation to renew that covenant. Thus, 
in the Church, and in covenant with God, 
you have a right and a warrant to claim all 
the promises and blessings, and use all the 
means of grace. Thus you enter the 
Church as one who seeks salvation. Seeing 
your danger, and feeling the need of help, 
you enter the ark where alone there is 
safety. 

The great question is,. are you penitent 
for your sins? Do you feel the need of 
salvation? Are you willing and anxious 
to be saved ? If so, you are ready to enter 
the Church. God is ready to make a cove- 
nant with yon. He is willing to give you 
a place in His Church, and thus admit you 
6 



62 THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 

to the privileges which He has placed in it, 
and by the use of which you are to grow in 
grace, and in the knowledge of Christ. 

If you look into the Scriptures, you will 
find that all such as felt their need of a 
Saviour, and who believed that Jesus was 
the Saviour whom they needed, and who 
in humble faith accepted of Him, were 
immediately admitted into fellowship with 
the disciples, adopted and initiated as mem- 
bers of the Church, and had the privilege 
of using all the means of grace in it. 
Acts 2 : 37-47. 

Are you willing to be saved; and are 
you anxious to use all the means instituted 
for that end ? If so, then enter the Church. 
You will find the means of grace sufficient 
for you. Do you feel weak and unworthy ? 
Of course you are so, haying but just taken 
the first step. Of course you feel weak, 
jeing but a babe in Christ. So much the 



THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 63 

more do you need the spiritual mother, to 
nurse and nurture you. The means to 
make you stronger are at hand : use them. 
Join in with God in a solemn covenant; 
profess Christ, at once, before men ; walk 
with His people. " Then shall you know, 
if you follow on to know the Lord." 
Hosea 6 : 3. 

You think that you need the same pre- 
paration to enter the Church, as you do to 
enter Heaven. This is a mistake. In the 
Church you are to be prepared for Heaven. 
The Church is the Lord's garden. The 
plants or seeds, that are put into it, are not 
ripe and ready to be gathered as soon as 
they are planted, so we are not yet ripe for 
HeaVen, when we are planted into the soil 
of the Church ; but we are in it to become 
such. As a seed w T ill never become more 
than a seed, unless it is put into the soil ; 
so we cannot become fit for Heaven, unless 



64 THE FIFTH OBJECTION. 

we are planted into the Church. Grace 
has a small beginning. Christians are first 
babes before they become strong men. 
Babes that scarcely know anything of them- 
selves, are on that account the more fit to 
be in the family ; so babes in Christ, feeble 
as they may be, are fit subjects to be in the 
Church. The very feeling of want which 
infants have, shows how much they need a 
mother; so your sense of need and un- 
worthiness, shows how much you need the 
Church. You will find, by blessed expe- 
rience, that just what you need, will come 
to you by the right use of the means of 
grace. "Those that be planted in the 
house of the Lord, shall flourish in the 
courts of our God.'' Ps. 92 : 13. 



THE SIXTH OBJECTION. 65 

I am Waiting on a Friend. 

The Sixth Objection. 

There are some who profess to feel the 
weight of the duty of uniting with the 
Church, but they defer it on the plea that 
they are w r aiting on some friend to join 
with them. 

This plea looks, at first sight, plausible ; 
for, the person upon whom they are wait- 
ing, may be a husband, a wife, a sister, a 
brother, a parent, or some intimate friend ; 
and it is natural that there should be a 
desire to be joined, in such a solemn and 
important step, by those who are dear to 
us. Still this is not a sufficient reason for 
deferring a duty of such great moment. 

1. Consider, you ought to move in this 
matter while God is moving you by His 
good Spirit. You feel it now to be your 
duty ; but if you put it off, that feeling 



66 THE SIXTH OBJECTION. 

may pass away, you may lose your anx- 
iety; and at last die out of the Church. 
It is the Spirit that works this willingness 
in you. It is He that so solemnly reminds 
you of your duty, and urges you by "a 
still small voice" to comply with it ; but 
that Spirit will not always strive. When 
He withdraws His influences, you may be 
given over to hardness of heart. 

2. When you delay this duty from year 
to year, you do not give the friend whom 
you expect to win to a profession, good 
proof of your sincerity and earnestness. 
Your delay shows your friend that you do 
not feel your own danger, out of the 
Church, and thus you encourage him in 
his own ease. The likelihood is that the 
longer you delay, the longer he will do the 
same. 

3. It is not likely that your delay will 
win your friend. As it is easier to draw 
persons from good to evil, than from evil 



THE SIXTH OBJECTION. 67 

to good, it is more likely that he will grad- 
ually win you to entire neglect, than that 
you will influence him to duty. Especially 
will you never be able to press his duty 
upon him by deferring your own. 

4. You sin by delaying, when you are 
convinced of your duty. Your duty is to 
act, to go forward. By delaying, you 
sin against the light in your own soul ; and 
the greatest of all sin is that which is 
committed against the light. Can your 
sinning on bring any go€>d to your friend ? 
Certainly not ; it is a vain hope. 

5. When you yourself are in covenant 
with God, you may expect that your ex- 
ample, your efforts, and your prayers will 
prevail more with God and with your 
friend, than now. The nearer you draw 
to God, the more hope you have of drawing 
your friend after you. 

6. You may die soon. Life is uncer- 
tain — delay is dangerous. Will God jus- 



68 THE SIXTH OBJECTION. 

tify you, if you die out of the Covenant, 
on the ground that you waited on a 
friend ? No. Eeligion is to you a per- 
sonal interest. You must act for yourself. 
Your friend cannot die for you, cannot ap- 
pear before God for you. This you must 
do for yourself. Then why delay? Let 
your resolution be this : Let others do as 
they will, I will lay hold upon life eternal. 
Momentous interests depend upon your de- 
cision. See that you are right. See that 
you act in time. . 



I have endeavored to remove the diffi- 
culties which have stood in your way, and 
some of which have, no doubt, kept you 
thus far out of the Church. I hope you 
have read with a sincere desire to know 
the truth. Why s'hould you not? You 
yourself are far more solemnly interested 
in this matter than any one else. If 



THE SIXTH OBJECTION. 69 

yon go down to the gates of death without 
that preparation which the Scriptures re- 
quire, it is you that will be the loser in 
that dreadful failure ! Let me ask you, 
then, to consider these excuses as solemnly 
as you would do upon a death-bed ; and if 
you see that they are not sound, cast them 
now away forever ! 



PART SECOND. 



ARGUMENTS PRESENTED. 



(71) 



PART SECOND. 
ARGUMENTS PRESENTED. 

Will You head on? 

I have shown that the grounds on which 
persons generally excuse themselves from 
uniting with the Church are not solid and 
sufficient. The discussion of the subject 
would- not be complete if I did not also 
give the positive arguments in favor of a 
regular public profession of religion. I 
most earnestly ask you to read on with 
care, while I present you the reasons, one 
after another, why you should join the 
7 (73) 



74 ARGUMENTS PRESENTED. 

Church. Permit me, at the beginning, to 
remind you, that if you have never made a 
profession of religion, you have the greatest 
interest in ascertaining whether it is your 
duty. 

It is exceedingly strange that any one 
should for a moment doubt that it is a 
duty. It is so clearly reasonable and scrip- 
tural, that it seems to me any one who con- 
siders the matter seriously can come only 
to one conclusion. But the very fact that 
there are still so many who are out of the 
Church, and w 7 ho have not hitherto been 
persuaded to enter it, is the best proof that 
it is still necessary to argue this point. 
Many, no doubt, are convinced, who still 
refuse to act ; we sincerely hope such may 
see the duty so clearly as to be brought to 
an immediate decision. Oh, why do you 
not act promptly in such a short and un- 
certain life? "Why sit we here until we 
die r 



the first argument. 75 

God has instituted the Church. 
The First Argument, 

It is your duty to join the Church be- 
cause God has instituted it. It is of divine 
origin. If it were a mere device of man, 
a mere human society, having for its object 
mere earthly benefits, then we might con- 
sult our own convenience and taste in 
regard to it. But an institution, of which 
God is the author, leaves us no choice but 
to obey what it requires. 

That the Church is a divine institution, 
no one will deny. Even in the Old Testa- 
ment we find that God had his Church — 
"the Church in the wilderness." Acts 7 : 
38. He determined its order, appointed 
its officers, its ceremonies, its worship, and 
the way by which persons should enter it. 
He blest those who were faithful members 
of it, and severely punished those who for- 



76 THE FIRST ARGUMENT. 

sook his covenant and his ordinances ; and 
entirely cast those off, who would not sub- 
mit to its requirements. 

In the New Testament we see, on almost 
every page, that Christ came into the world 
to establish a Church or kingdom. Hence 
we read of the "Kingdom of God." This 
expression is often applied to the Church 
of God on earth. A kingdom must have 
subjects w T ho stand in connection with it, 
and submit to its laws. That Christ es- 
tablished a Church, is evident from his own 
declaration: "Thou art Peter, and upon 
this rock I will build my Church: and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." 
Matt. 16 : 18. This Church had its rules, 
to .which all were required to conform. 
Hence the Saviour tells his disciples how 
they must proceed when a member sh^ll 
trespass, or be guilty of any fault ; they 
shall first speak to him privately, and 



THE FIRST ARGUMENT. 77 

secondly take one or two witnesses, and if 

he still refuses to yield, they shall " tell it 

unto the Church. " If he "neglect to hear 

the Church,' ' then he shall be separated 

from them, and be to them as an heathen 

man and a publican. Matt. 18 : 15-18. 

Can any thing be plainer ? The kingdom, 

or Church, which Christ established was 

not merely an internal one, consisting of 

piety in the heart ; but it had an outward 

form, constituting a public society, to which 

persons were formally joined, and from 

which they were excluded, when they were 

guilty of faults worthy of exclusion. 

Christ, then, is himself the author of the 

Church. He added members to it while 

He was upon earth. He is declared to be 

the "head of the Church." The Church 

is " His body." Eph. 1 : 23. " Christ also 

loved the Church, and gave himself for it ; 

that he might sanctify and cleanse it with 
7 * 



78 THE FIRST ARGUMENT. 

the washing of water by the word, that He 
might present it to Himself a glorious 
Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any 
such thing." Eph. 5 : 25-27. It is His 
design and desire that all should belong to 
it, be saved in it, and glorified with, it in 
Heaven. 

Can you doubt whether it is your duty 
to join ? Did He institute it in vain ; and 
after He "gave Himself for it," can you 
say that you can do as well without it? 
Oh, consider this matter again; and see 
whether you will not conclude that as 
" Christ also loved the Church," it is your 
duty to love it ; and that as " He gave Him- 
self for it," so it is your duty to give your- 
self to its service. Does he love Christ, 
who is willing to die out of His Church ? 



the second argument. 79 

God enjoins it as a Duty. 
The Second Argument. 

He requires us to join the Church, by a 
public profession of religion, and enjoins 
it upon us as a duty. 

This is evident from various considera- 
tions. He has instituted forms of admis- 
sion into the Church. In the Old Testa- 
ment the rite of admission was circumcision. 
Even children could not belong to the cove- 
nant of promise without circumcision ; and 
adults were also to be admitted by this rite. 
" He that is born in thy house, and he that 
is bought with thy money, must needs be 
circumcised." And if any one neglected 
this sign of the covenant, "that soul shall 
be cut off from his people ; he hath broken 
my covenant " — or neglected my covenant ; 
see the German translation. Gen. 17. No 
one, then, could be among God's people, 



80 THE SECOND ARGUMENT. 

without having been regularly admitted by 
that rite which God had appointed as the 
rite of admission. 

In the New T Testament the initiatory rite 
is baptism. Christ himself submitted to it 
in order to fulfil all righteousness, and that 
He might leave us an example that we 
should follow in His footsteps. The com- 
mand which He gave his disciples could 
not be plainer; " Go ye and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you." Matt. 
28:19-20. In Mark 16:16, we are told 
what the consequences will be if we refose 
to submit to this order. He that would be 
wiser than God in this respect, and is deter- 
mined to take his own way, must meet the 
consequences. 

Not only have rites of admission been in- 
stituted, but Christ has absolutely declared 



THE SECOND ARGUMENT. 81 

that every one who will be saved must 
publicly profess Him. Consider the solemn 
passage in Matt. 10 : 32, 33 : " Whosoever 
therefore shall confess me before men, him 
will I confess also before my Father which 
is in Heaven. But whosoever shall deny 
me before men, him will I also deny before 
my Father which is in Heaven." See also 
^Luke 12 : 8, 9. The kind of confession 
here required is a public one, for it must be 
"before men." Now, if Christ has insti- 
tuted a Church, and also a rite, by which 
we are to be admitted into it, and we stand 
back from it, is not this denying our attach- 
ment to Him ? We may regard ourselves 
as confessing Him out of the Church ; but 
this is our way, and not God's way, and He 
will not own it. How can we better deny 
a government, than by publicly refusing to 
be a citizen. If Christ has a kingdom in 
the world, and we refuse to enter it, is not 
that the best evidence that we do not wish 



82 THE THIRD ARGUMENT. 

Him to rule over us? Nothing can be 
plainer. Now Christ declares absolutely, 
and without any qualification, that such as 
deny Him in this way before men, them 
will He deny before God, and the angels. 



The example of the first Christians. 
The Third Argument. 

We find that all those who became pious, 
under the preaching of Christ and His 
apostles, joined the Church immediately. 

Those w T ho believed in Christ joined 
themselves to Him and His followers. He 
enjoined it upon them to deny themselves, 
take up the cross, and follow Him. Matt. 
16 : 24, He also declared that if any one 
refused to do this, he was not worthy of 
Him, and could not be His disciple. Matt. 
10 : 38. Luke 14 : 27. They were not 
merely in a quiet and secret way to adopt 



THE THIRD ARGUMENT. 83 

the truth, and practise religious principles 
alone and for themselves; but they were 
to profess themselves openly, always, in all 
places 2 and "before men," as adherents to 
Christ. It was the great sin of Peter that 
he denied that he was a follower of Christ, 
and refused to be openly considered as such. 
The social nature of religion, the love 
which it inspired, as well as a hearty desire 
to join with their Head and Master in es- 
tablishing a visible Church and kingdom 
of saints, lead them to draw towards each 
other in the sweetest and most intimate 
fellowship. Hence we find that, after our 
Saviour's death, " the eleven gathered toge- 
ther, and them that were with them." 
Luke 24 : 33. Immediately after His as- 
cension into Heaven, they "all continued 
with one accord in prayer and supplication, 
with the women, and Mary the mother of 
Jesus, and with His brethren." Acts 1 : 
14. On the day of Pentecost "they were 



84 THE THIRD ARGUMENT. 

all with one accord in one place." Acts 
2 : 1. After Peter's sermon, on that me- 
morable day when many were pricked to 
the heart by the truth, "they that gladly 
received his word, were baptized : and the 
same day there were added unto them about 
three thousand souls." Here we see how 
a public profession of religion immediately 
followed their belief in the truth ; and it is 
added "they continued steadfastly in the 
apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and' in 
breaking of bread, and in prayers." 

Thus then it appears quite evident that 
the early Christians joined the Church im- 
mediately; and it seems that none held 
back, for it is not said that only some of 
them did so, but " they that gladly received 
his word," did so. This also continued 
afterwards to be the case, for we are told 
that "the Lord added to the Church daily 
such as should be saved." Acts 2 : 41-47. 
It was a natural result : they that believed 



THE THIRD ARGUMENT. 85 

in Him, and received His grace, united at 
once with the Church. 

How then can any one doubt that it is 
our duty to make a public profession of 
religion by being " added to the Church/' 
The example of Christians in the apostolic 
times, is as plain as sacred history can 
make it. That the apostles established 
Churches, with ministers to teach, and 
officers to rule, no one who is at all ac- 
quainted with the Scriptures can doubt. 
These Churches included all who professed 
to be friends of the Gospel. Piety, a 
public profession of religion by being ad- 
ded to the Church, and operating with it, 
was with them identical. Acts V. 11, 
VIII. 1—3, XI. 22—26, XII. 5, XIV. 23— 
2T, XV. 22, XVni. 12, XX. 28. Eead 
these passages, and then decide whether 
you can be in sympathy of spirit with the 
disciples and early Christians, without 
being united with the Church. If you are 



86 THE THIRD ARGUMENT. 

not like them on earth, can you expect to 
be with them in heaven? Show me a 
good man or woman in the whole Bible 
who was not a friend of the Church, and 
who did not belong to it. There were per- 
sons in the Church that were not pious — 
but were there any out of it that were 
pious ? Do you say the thief on the Cross? 
I answer that it is doubtful whether ever 
he had an opportunity to profess Christ 
before ; for it is not likely that he had ever 
seen Him till then ; and, moreover, he did 
then confess Christ publicly, as publicly as 
possible ; and expressed a desire to be 
with Him in His kingdom. Can you say 
that you have had no opportunity to make 
a profession of religion, when the Church, 
stands with open doors before you, and 
when you are invited and warned, Sabbath 
after Sabbath, from the pulpit, and daily 
by your own conscience and God's provi- 
dences ? 



THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 87 



Union with Christ is Through the 
Church. 

The Fourth Argument. 

It is necessary to be united with the 
Church, because, according to the Scrip- 
tures, we are united to Christ through the 
Church. 

In order to convince ourselves of this, 
we need only look at the representations 
which are given in Scripture, of the union 
of Christ with His Church, and of the 
Church with her members. We find that 
this is set forth by the symbol of a human 
body. 

Christ is the head. The Church is the 
body. Christians are the members of that 
body. This is seen in the following pas- 
sages : " God has put all things under His 
(Christ's) feet, and gave Him to be head 
over all things to the Church, which is His 



88 THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 

body." Eph. 1 : 22—23. Again: "And 
He is the head of the body, the Church." 
Col. 1 : 18. Now that Christians are 
united to Christ, their head, by being 
united with the body, is seen in 1 Cor. 12, 
where this matter is discussed at length. — 
"•For as the body is one, and hath many 
members, and all the members of that 
one body, being many, are one body ; so 
also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we 
all baptized into one body." The Apostle 
then goes on to show, that as the eye, the 
ear, the hand, the foot, as members of that 
body, have all different offices, and yet ard 
pervaded by one life, so are all the differ- 
ent individual Christians joined in the same 
body, in Christ. "Now ye are the body 
of Christ, and members in particular." 

The Apostle, in Eph. 4, 15 — 16, where 
he uses the same comparison, shows that 
we can only be joined with Christ, the 
head, and grow up in Him, by being joined 
with the Church, His body. We are to 



THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 89 

"grow up in Him in all things, which is 
the head, even Christ : From whom the 
whole body, fitly joined together and com- 
pacted by that which every joint supplieth, 
according to the effectual working in the 
measure of every part, maketh increase of 
the body unto the edifying of .itself in 
love." See also Eph. 2 : 20—22, and 1 
Cor. 10 : 17. 

This is a solemn truth, and it ought to 
be well considered by all who are out of 
the Church. Out of the Church, according 
to the Apostle, we are like an arm, an ear, 
or an eye, out of the body — dead ! The 
life of the Head does not flow into us, un- 
less we are in the body. As the body is 
between the limbs and the head, so the 
Church is between the members and 
Christ; and we can only be joined with 
Him through the Church. In the Church 
is His spirit and His grace. In the Church 
are the means by which we are to seek and 
to And union with Him. In the Church 
8* 



90 THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 

are His ministers to show the way to life ; 
there are the sacraments as nourishment, 
as signs and seals of His grace ; and there 
are all the ordinances adapted and designed 
to renew us into His image unto perfect 
men in Christ. 

It is not necessary to discuss the ques- 
tion whether we can be Christians out of 
the Church. It is a useless question, and 
to such the Saviour Himself gave no an- 
swer. It is just as in that case where one 
came to Christ, and asked, " Lord, are 
there few that be saved?" The Saviour 
answered his question by saying, " Strive 
to enter in at the strait gate!" That is 
as much as if he had said, You have more 
important matters to engage your atten- 
tion ; — whether few or many are saved, 
what is that to thee ? See to it that you 
are saved. So here — if you ask, can no 
one be saved out of the Church ? we an- 



THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 91 

swer, You can be saved in the Church ; 
see that you do not neglect it. This is 
the first duty which claims your attention. 
When you once feel yourself saved in the 
Church, rest assured you will have no de- 
sire to ask this question. When once 
happily housed in your Father's house, in 
joyful fellowship with his children, and 
feasting upon his grace and love, you will 
not ask whether one can enjoy the same 
blessings out in the cold and dreary bar- 
rens of the world. 

It is, moreover, the same as if w T e 
should ask : Cannot the eye see, and the 
ear hear, when cut loose from the body? 
Cannot the branches bring fruit when cut 
off from the vine ? Cannot the thirsty and 
hungry soul satisfy his wants away from 
the fountain of life, and away from the 
table which God has provided for His 
children? It is enough for us to know 



92 THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 

that Grod does not say that we can be saved 
out of the Church! If we can be, he has 
not revealed the fact to us. He has no- 
where advised us to stay out of the 
Church. He has nowhere promised us 
blessings for so doing. On the contrary, 
He has thrown all His exhortations, His 
warnings, His instructions, and His promi- 
ses with awful solemnity on the other side. 
The Church is evidently His delight. 
" The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more 
than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious 
things are spoken of thee, city of God." 
The Church is the birth-place of the saints. 
" And of Zion it shall be said, This and 
that man was born in her: and the Highest 
Himself shall establish her. The Lord 
shall count, when He writeth up the 
people, that this man was born there : all 
my springs are in thee." Ps. 87. See also 
Ps. 48. 



THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 93 

As long as any one has no desire, and is 
not willing to join the Church, it is the 
best possible proof that he is not yet a 
Christian. For a desire and hope to be 
saved out of the Church, is a desire and 
hope to be saved out of God's way ; and as 
long as any one is not willing to submit to 
God's will and way, his heart is not right 
with God. It is with him just as it was 
with Kaaman ; he wished to be cleansed 
of his leprosy, but not in the way which 
the prophet prescribed ; but he was not 
healed till he took the prophet's w r ay. 2 
Kings 5. Refer to that chapter, and read 
it carefully ; it furnishes a solemn lesson to 
all such as wish to be saved in their own 
way — out of the Church. 

After God has established His Church 
on earth, after He has instituted its ordi- 
nances, after Christ has " given Himself 
for it," and preserved it amid the ragings 



94 THE FOURTH ARGUMENT. 

of the heathen, and the tumultuations of 
the world's history, for nearly six thousand 
years — after all this, it is next to blasphemy 
to say that we can be saved as well out of 
the Church as in it ! What greater insult 
can be offered to God ? and yet this is 
done in Christian lands, and with Bible in 
hand ! Oh, human nature, how art thou 
depraved and fallen from God ! How al- 
most hopeless is human self-will and pride ! 
Let me beg you, my dear fellow-traveller 
to eternity, to consider well, before you 
peril your eternal interests upon such a 
frail hope. Behold now, "What confi- 
dence is this wherein thou trustedst ? 
Thou sayest, I have counsel and strength 
for the war. Now, behold, thou trustest 
upon the staff of this bruised reed, on 
which if a man lean, it will go into his 
hand and pierce it." 2 Kings 18-21. 



THE FIFTH ARGUMENT. . 95 



you cannot obey christ out of the 
Church. 

The Fifth Argument. 

It is the duty of every one to join the 
Church, because it is impossible to obey 
Christ in all things without it. 

You will judge at once that we allude to 
the use of the Sacraments — Baptism and 
the Lord's Supper. Some persons make 
very light of these ordinances. To many 
they are but forms, which they think may 
easily be set aside. The chief reason why 
these ordinances are not more valued by 
them, is because they make so little of the 
Church in which they are administered. 
Let it be remarked, however, that those 
who place little value on these ordinances, 
have not the Saviour for their example. 
He did not only teach men to love God, 
and to serve Him with a sincere heart, but 



96 THE FIFTH ARGUMENT. 

He taught them also to attend to all the in- 
stituted ordinances of religion. While He 
lived upon earth, He was not only circum- 
cised and baptized, but He attended upon 
every Jewish Passover that was celebrated 
in His time ; and when He had instituted 
the Holy Sacrament of the Last Supper 
He partook of it with His disciples. This 
He did that He might fulfil all righteous- 
ness, and leave us an example, that we 
should follow in His footsteps. Away with 
that religion which does not lead us to the 
ordinances — it is not from Christ, our 
Saviour. 

That it is the imperative duty of all who 
would be saved to be baptized, and to par- 
take of the Lord's Supper, is as plain as it 
can be made in the Scriptures. Both are 
absolutely, and without condition, enjoined 
upon adults. "Be baptized." Matt. 3 : 13. 
Mark 16 : 16. Acts 2 : 38-41. Acts 8 : 12. 
Acts 22 : 16. 1 Cor. 12 : 13. Gal. 3 : 27. 



THE FIFTH ARGUMENT. 97 

u Do this in remembrance of me." Luke 
22 : 19. Mark 14 : 22. Matt. 26 : 26. 1 
Cor. 11 : 23-29. From these passages, and 
many more, it will be seen that the use of 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper are solemnly 
enjoined duties; and they dare not be ne- 
glected — they will not be neglected by a 
Christian. As long as they are neglected, 
it is the best possible sign that there is no 
piety in the heart. For how can piety 
exist without leading to obedience ? The 
Saviour himself has said, "If a man love 
me, he will keep my words." John 14 : 23. 
And again : " If ye love me, keep my com- 
mandments." Verse 15. Listen also to 
John, the gentle and lovely disciple ; how 
strongly does he express himself on this 
point: "He that saith, I know Him, and 
keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, 
and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2 : 4. 
Hear that, all ye who say you love the 
Saviour, and have never yet obeyed His 
9 



98 THE FIFTH ARGUMENT. 

dying command : " Do this in remembrance 
of me." Your hearts are deceiving you. 
There is no evidence on earth that can 
prove you to love Christ, as long as that 
love does not lead you to obedience. If an 
angel from Heaven (Gal. 1 : 8) should 
preach a different doctrine from that which 
is here so plainly taught, he is not to be 
believed. " For this is the love of God, that 
we keep His commandments. " 1 John 5 : 3. 
Thus, then, you see that to be a Chris- 
tian it is absolutely necessary to obey 
Christ in the Sacraments. This you can 
only do by joining the Church; for Christ 
has appointed Officers, and made laws, in 
His Church ; and those who will enjoy its 
privileges must submit to its rules. If 
there were no rules, so that any one, and 
every one, might come to the table of the 
Lord, there could be no order, and indeed 
no Church. " God is not the author of 
confusion, but of peace, as in all Churches 



THE FIFTH ARGUMENT. 99 

of the saints." 1 Cor. 14:33. Hence, 
"Let all things be clone decently and in 
order." Verse 40. Hence, also, it is made 
the duty of the officers in the Church to 
guard its purity, and to exclude any who 
disgrace their profession. See 1 Cor. V. 
This order could not be kept up, were it 
not required that all who will partake of 
the ordinances in the Church, should con- 
nect themselves with it in a regular way. 

You have now seen, that if we will be 
Christians we must use the Sacraments. 
You have seen also that these are in the 
Church, and can be allowed only to such 
as are regularly connected with it. Hence, 
in order to keep the Saviour's command- 
ments, you must join the Church. Out of 
the Church, you are away from the Sacra- 
ments ; and how can you be pious without 
a covenant, without means of grace, and 
without obedience ? 



100 THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 



It is your Duty to give your Influence 
to the Church. 

The Sixth Argument. 

It is your duty to belong to the Church, 
because it is only in this way that you can 
stand on the side of religion in the eyes of 
the world. 

It will be in vain for you to say to others 
that you are a friend of Christ, of His 
Church, and its ordinances, as long as you 
stand out of its sacred enclosure. Your 
example will speak louder than your w r ords ; 
and those over whom your influence, in any 
way, extends, will do as you do, and not as 
you say. Thus, as long as you are out of 
the Church, the whole weight of your in- 
fluence lies against it. 

In this way vast injury is done by the 
silent, but effective, power of example. 
Especially do parents, in this way, by their 



THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 101 

example, infuse into the minds of their 
children a. secret disrespect for religion and 
its ordinances. There is not the least 
doubt that many children, growing up 
around uncovenanted parents, have been 
kept out of the Church and out of Heaven, 
just because they could silence the claims 
of religion upon them, by the example of 
parents. They may speak piously to their 
children, but what weight has that, so long 
as their own hearts are not led to obedience 
in what God requires of all in connection 
with His Church. The child will think 
thus : if you are sincere in speaking of the 
necessity of piety, why do not you profess 
it? It is natural for us to feel suspicious, 
when one points out to us a way, in which 
he is not himself willing to walk. It is 
only, then, by making a profession of reli- 
gion yourself, that you can be considered 
on the Lord's side by others. 

It is on this account that w r e are con- 
9* 



102 THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 

stantly exhorted in the Scripture to sepa- 
rate ourselves from the world, and stand 
with the people of the Lord, on the Lord's 
side. "Bej^e not unequally yoked toge- 
ther with unbelievers : for what fellowship 
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? 
and what communion hath light with dark- 
ness ? And what concord hath Christ with 
Belial ? or what part hath he that believeth 
with an infidel ? Wherefore come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, saith the 
Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; 
and I will receive you ; and will be a 
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons 
and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 
2 Cor. 6 : 14-18. Hence also w T e are 
" called to be saints" — that is, holy ones: 
not only holy ones in the sense of inward 
purity, but also in the sense of outward 
separation. The apostle, in 1 Peter 2 : 9, 
shows plainly that those who profess to be 
pious, ought to form a holy society, in in- 



THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 103 

ward as well as outward fellowship with, 
each other. " Ye are a chosen generation, 
a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a pecu- 
liar people." He also points out the reason 
why they are thus called out from the 
world : " That ye should show forth the 
praises of Him who hath called you from 
darkness into his marvellous light." How 
can oar example tell upon others, as long 
as we are in position among them? — and 
how can we honor the Church, as long as 
we stand aloof from it. Or how can we 
be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, 
an holy nation, and a peculiar people, as 
long as we are not separate from the world. 
We must stand out publicly on the side of 
the Church with those who "witness a 
good profession," and, in the face of the 
world, let our light shine. This alone can 
be properly called confessing Christ " before 
men," and letting our "light shine before 
men." 



104 THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 

Let it not be forgotten that our influence 
is also a talent with which we must glorify 
God. You have influence ; and how many 
perhaps are kept out of the Church by 
your example ! How many perhaps would 
follow you if you made a profession of re- 
ligion ! And among those which you could 
draw after you, are your best friends — per- 
haps a wife, a husband, a sister, a brother, 
or children ; for it is over these you have 
the most influence. Will you then go on 
in disobedience to the command of your 
suffering Lord, with so many hanging to 
your skirts, and following in the fearful 
wake of your influence and example into a 
hopeless grave ! 

This consideration appeals especially, 
with awful force, to such as have, on ac- 
count of talents, learning, wealth, office or 
position, more than ordinary influence in 
society ; and whose example has weight in 
the minds of many. " Have any of the 



THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. • 105 

rulers, or of the Pharisees believed on 
Him?" This is the question which arises 
in the heart of many in the humbler walks 
of life, when the claims of religion are 
pressed upon them. If religion is so im- 
portant^ and if a connection with the 
Church is so indispensable, why do not all 
our Physicians, Lawyers, Legislators, and 
eminent men, become members of the 
Church ? They are intelligent, and capable 
of weighing the claims of duty, and are 
we not safe in following their example. 
When they are sometimes almost over- 
powered by the excellency of the truth, 
and are inwardly moved to fall in with it, 
still the example, the apparent indifference 
of the "rulers," makes them waver; and, 
half in doubt whether they shall yield to 
inward conviction or trust to their exam- 
ples, they ask: " Do the rulers know indeed 
that this is the Christ ?" John VII. 

We remember of having heard of an 



106 THE SIXTH ARGUMENT. 

eminent statesman who once offered 1000 
dollars to any one who should reform his 
profligate son ; but we did not hear that 
any one attempted to secure the prize. 
This could all have been spared, had the 
parent brought up his family in the Church, 
and under the trainings of grace, leading 
the way by his own example and influence. 
— Was it not natural that the son should 
have confidence in the example of so 
honored a parent, and thus be content out 
of the Church and covenant of God, in 
which alone there is safety ? — Was it not 
natural for the son, when the claims of re- 
ligion were presented, to ask: "Has my 
Father believed on Him?" Alas! if any 
one raise children in the uncoven anted 
wilds of the world, instead of the garden 
of the Lord, he must blame only himself 
if they turn out to be " degenerate plants 
of a strange vine." Themselves they must 
blame when at last they are forced to mourn 



THE SEVENTH ARGUMENT. 107 

bitterly over their ruin, " my son Abso- 
lom ! my son, my son Absalom ! would to 
God I had died for thee, Absalom, my 
son, my son !" 



Your Course would destroy the Church. 
The Seventh Argument. 

If all did as you do, there could be no 
Church and no public service in the world. 

There can be no nation without citizens ; 
and so there can be no Church without 
members. If all, therefore, stood aloof as 
you do, and refused to unite with others in 
keeping up the Church's eternal organiza- 
tion, it could not exist. True, this will 
never be — Christ will always raise up those 
who will sustain His Church; but so far 
as your influence and example reach, their 
direct tendency is to destroy the Church, 
for which Christ died. All that is neces- 



108 THE SEVENTH ARGUMENT. 

sary to bring about this dreadful result is, 
that all others should think as you think, 
and do as you do. Then, soon, there would 
be no Churches, no public assemblies of 
God's people, no professing people of God 
crowding to the Sacramental Table to cele- 
brate the Saviour's dying love, and obey 
His dying command. Do you desire to see 
such consequences ? We cannot think so ; 
and yet you are giving the full weight of 
your influence and example toward bring- 
ing about this result ! 

It is a true and a just rule: "We must 
do nothing ourselves which we would not 
be willing should become a general rule for 
all." Are you willing that the rule you 
adopt, and the course you pursue, should 
become the rule and course of all ? Cer- 
tainly you are not. It is doubtful whether 
you would advise your best friend, or your 
children, to do, in this respect, as you do. 
And if the whole world should suddenly 



THE SEVENTH ARGUMENT. 109 

throw up their interest in the Church, and 
withdraw from it, you yourself would be 
alarmed. For certainly you acknowledge 
that Christ established a Church, and that 
it ought to continue to exist. Is it not 
then your duty to join it and to aid in keep- 
ing it up, just as much so as it is the duty 
of any one else. 

Those, also, who now belong to the 
Church, could have offered the same objec- 
tions, and made the same excuses, which 
you now present ; and these excuses would 
have had just as much weight in their case 
as they have in yours. How plain is it, 
then, that it is the deceitfulness of the 
heart, the allurements of the world, the 
flesh, and the devil, and a wicked nature 
which is naturally averse to duty — it is 
these that keep you back from making a 
profession of religion, and from union 
with the Church. The Holy Scriptures 
tell us that " the heart is deceitful above 
10 



110 THE EIGHTH ARGUMENT. 

all things, and desperately wicked." If 
we follow its suggestions, it will lead us 
astray. do not entrust to it the decision 
of this solemn question. 



It will do You great Good. 
The Eighth Argument. 

You ought to join the Church because 
of the excellent effect which it would exert 
upon you. 

It would be a difficult and almost end- 
less task, to exhibit all the good effects 
which will result to you from a right con- 
nection with the Church. They are as ex- 
tensive and various as the influences of 
religion itself, which it is the great aim 
and end of the Church to beget and unfold 
in the heart and life of all. Many of its 
influences are so silent that they cannot be 



TIXE EIGHTH ARGUMENT. Ill 

traced in their details. Gently as the dew 

do its cheering, refreshing, and life-giving 

influences distil upon the heart ; and it is 

because these influences are so gentle and 

silent, that they are so difficult fully to 

appreciate. "I will be as the dew unto 

Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast 

forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches 

shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the 

olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They 

that dwell under His shadow shall return ; 

they shall revive as the corn, and grow as 

the vine." Hos. 14:5, 6, 7. 

He that is in the Church, is as a plant in 

good soil — warmed by the sun of heaven, 

refreshed by its showers, and made glad in 

I 
the smiles of the Lord. The silent but 

effectual manner in which those who stand 
in this kingdom of grace are pervaded and 
transformed by the power of grace, is beau- 
tifully set forth by the Saviour in some of 
His parables. The grace of Christ trans- 



112 THE EIGHTH ARGUMENT. 

fuses itself like leaven. Matt. 13 : 33. It 
is also like a mustard-seed, which gradually 
and silently becomes a great tree from the 
smallest of seeds. Matt. 13 : 31, 32. And 
again : " So is the kingdom of God, as if 
a man should cast seed into the ground ; 
and should sleep, and rise night and day, 
and the seed should spring and grow up, 
he knoweth not how. For the earth bring- 
eth forth fruit of herself — first the blade, 
then the ear, after that the full corn in the 
ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, 
immediately he putteth in the sickle, be- 
cause the harvest is come." Mark 4 : 
26-29. So silently, gradually, but surely, 
does the Church "bring forth fruit of her- 
self;' ' and so rich is the harvest wnich 
those reap in the end who have been 
planted in this vineyard of the Lord. 

The good effects which result from a 
regular connection with the Church, can 
be seen in many excellent specimens of 



THE EIGHTH ARGUMENT. 113 

Christian character cultivated and perfected 
in its bosom. The finest specimens of 
human excellence which the world has ever 
seen, were in the Church. This would be 
seen and acknowledged more than it is, 
were it not that most of persons, in view- 
ing the Church, fix their eyes first and only 
upon the Judases and Peters — who deny 
and betray Christ. Many a good ripe 
Christian lives and dies in the Church 
while no one says, " See a righteous man, 
let us imitate him ;" but there are few 
hypocrites w 7 ho are not pointed out by non- 
professors as standing arguments against 
the Church, which lead men to the awful 
and ruinous conclusion : " We are as good 
out of the Church as in it." But who will 
deny that the loveliest Christian characters 
in society are formed in the Church? We 
will venture the assertion, that if you will 
select from among your acquaintances five 
persons in wHom you would repose un- 
10* 



114 THE EIGHTH AKGUMENT. 

bounded confidence, — persons in wliose 
hands you would entrust your property 
while you live, and your children when 
you die, — we will venture to say that those 
five persons are professors of religion. 
Many an aged patriarch have you seen, 
who had been " planted into the house of 
the Lord" in youth, nourished by the ordi- 
nances of the Church, and ripened for 
glory, till he was gathered " like as a shock 
of corn cometh in his season. " The com- 
munity felt his loss ; like Stephen of old, 
" devout men carried him to his burial, 
and made a great lamentation over him ;" 
and, returning from his honored grave, 
many sighs were heard in the crowd : " A 
good man hath gone to his rest !" 

How can it be otherwise than that union 
with the Church should have a blessed 
effect ? There the heart finds in sabbatic 
hours, its quiet habitation. There God 
speaks, through His ministers, words of 



THE EIGHTH ARGUMENT. 115 

instruction- — words of admonition — words 
of exhortation — words of warning — words 
of promise and consolation. There the 
sacraments are dispensed — there His praise 
is sung — there prayer is addressed to Him 
who is the hearer of prayer, and the re- 
warder of all them that diligently seek 
Him. It is the place which God has 
chosen for His peculiar dwelling-place on 
earth ; and He is known in " her palaces 
for a refuge," as He is not known in all the 
earth beside. 

I love her gates, I love the road ; 

The Church, adorned with grace, 
Stands like a palace built for God, 

To show His milder face. 

Who will deny that it has a good in- 
fluence upon the heart to be in the Church; 
and, in covenant with God, to receive all 
the blessings which the covenant promises? 
It cannot be that you doubt this. If, then, 
the Church has such blessings in store, 



116 THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 

why do you continue to deprive yourself 
of them ? Why do you neglect them 
while they are passing so fast away, and 
will soon be beyond your reach forever. 
Is it thus that you will purchase for your- 
self bitterness on a dying bed, and eternal 
regret when the harvest is past, and the 
summer of life is ended ? " If thou hadst 
known, even thou, at least in this thy day, 
the things w r hich belong unto thy peace ! 
but now they are hid from thine eyes." 



Look at the Solemn Consequences. 

The Ninth Argument. 

There is another reason why you should 
join the Church, closely allied to the one 
last mentioned. It is this: Not to unite 
with it will bring injury upon you, and, 



THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 117 

through you, upon others after you ; espe- 
cially if you are a parent or ever will be. 

All the good effects of which we have 
just spoken, you will of course lose. Be- 
ing out of covenant with God, you cannot 
claim His blessings, and He is not pledged 
to bestow them. He gives you a thousand 
promises, if you will confess Him, and 
identify yourself with His Church, king- 
dom, and people ; but not one promise, as 
long as you walk in disobedience. By 
looking at His dealings with His people in 
the Old Testament, you will see that He 
blessed those who were in covenant with 
Him ; and forsook those who refused the 
covenant. Oh, what a lesson does the 
w 7 hole transaction of God with the Jews 
teach in this respect ! The w T hole history 
of the Jews is a commentary on the cove- 
nant and promise: "He that is born in 
thy house, and he that is bought with thy 
money, must needs be circumcised : and my 



118 THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 

covenant shall be in your flesh for an ever- 
lasting covenant" The whole history also 
of the unfaithful portion of the Jews, and 
of the uncovenanted nations around, is a 
commentary on the threat : " And the un- 
circumcised man-child, whose flesh of his 
foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall 
be cut off from his people; he hath broken 
my covenant." Gen. 17 : 13-14. 

The same God still lives ! He is still 
the same in His dealings with those that 
are in covenant with Him, and with those 
that are not. Though in the New Testa- 
ment we have a "better covenant, which 
was established upon better promises," 
(Heb. 8 : 6) yet it is a covenant still ; and 
those who would receive its blessing, must 
enter into covenant relations with God. In 
the New Testament, as well as in the Old, 
God stands before you, offering to confess 
you, if you confess Him. Listen to His 
gracious words : "I will dwell in them, and 



THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 119 

walk in them; and I will be their God, 
and they shall be my people. Wherefore, 
come out from among them, and be ye 
separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the 
unclean thing ; and I will receive you ; 
and will be a Father unto you, and ye 
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the 
Lord Almighty." 2 Cor. 6 : 16-18. This 
is God's offer to you. Thus He stands and 
pleads with a sinful worm ! 

" Oh how canst thou renounce, and hope to be for- 
given !" 

"Will you die out of covenant with God ? 
Will you die out of the Church? Will 
you die without any marks of sacramental 
blessings upon you ? Will you die without 
some seal placed upon you by the hand of 
God Himself, giving you some comfortable 
encouragement to hope in His mercy ? 

Do you say you believe and hope in 
Christ? I answer, as we have already seen 



120 THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 

in a former part of this treatise, graciously 
Christ is only in His Church. The 
Church is " His body." If you will be 
in Him, you must be in the Church, as 
members are in the body. If you obey 
Him not, in His ordinances, then you are 
none of His ! Oh hear it, unless you obey 
Him, you are none of His ! For He Him- 
self says, "He that hath my command- 
ments, and Jceepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me." "If a man love me, he will keep my 
words." His words are, " Do this in re- 
membrance of me." His words are, "Con- 
fess me before men." You keep not His 
words, you obey not His commands — even 
not His dying command ! Hear it : thus 
disobeying, you are not His! — you are not 
His ! Out of the Church, without Baptism 
and the Lord's Supper — out of the Church, 
without a living union with the Head, 
through the body, you are a member cut 
off, and dead ! Hear it, cut off and dead ! 



THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 121 

Are you a parent ? Then in addition to 
the loss you yourself sustain, out of the 
Church, you make your children heirs of 
this loss. "Why did salvation come to 
the house of Zaccheus ?" Luke 19. The 
answer is given by Christ Himself: " For- 
asmuch as he also is a son of Abraham." 
Here God remembered the covenant He 
had made with the parents of Zaccheus — 
that covenant included "their seed." 
Now Zaccheus shares its fruits. There 
were other houses in Jericho, but Jesus 
goes to the house of Zaccheus, because he 
also is a son of Abraham — and He took 
salvation with Him when He went ! Here 
we see the benefit which children receive 
from the covenant relation into which they 
are placed by their parents. Have you no 
desire to secure them to your children ; so 
that when you are dead, God may be the 
God of your offspring ? 

There is not the least doubt that many 
11 



122 THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 

children receive the gracious visits of 
God's grace by virtue of the fact that their 
parents were in covenant, and secured the 
covenant also to them. Neither is there 
any doubt, on the other hand, that many 
are lost, because they were not only left 
out of the Church by their parents, but 
encouraged to remain out by the full 
weight of their parents' influence and ex- 
ample. Left on the uncovenanted wilds 
of the world, without God and without 
hope, " aliens from the commonwealth of 
Israel, and strangers to the covenants of 
promise," it is not strange that they first 
despise, then wander, and at last perish. 

To illustrate this solemn and alarming 
truth we may refer to a fact, and there are 
many like it. Two brothers came from 
Switzerland, four generations back. The 
one was in the Church, and remained in 
it, a faithful member ; bringing up all his 



THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 123 

children in it. Piety is still honored in all 
the branches of that family in the fourth 
generation ! 

" If pure and holy is the root, such are the branches 
too." 

The other became a sot, and of course 
cast off the covenant for himself and for 
his children. Not only his drunkenness, 
but the curse of being out of the Church 
can be distinctly traced in that family in 
the fourth generation ! Such are the 
solemn and far-reaching consequences of 
our acts upon our posterity. 

Will you, as a parent, take the dreadful 
responsibility of bringing up your children 
out of the Church, and confirm them in 
that position by the influence of your ex- 
ample? Look down the history of your 
own family through four generations, — 
think of the momentous consequehces for 
good or for evil which you may entail 



124 THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 

upon them, and then decide whether you 
will live and die out of the Church ! Will 
you be the head of a stream of results, 
which will become wider, wilder, and 
darker, after you are dead, roll down its 
ever-increasing consequences into eternity, 
and cause you, when you meet them in 
the judgment, to curse the day in which 
you and they were born ! Certainly this 
is something to be seriously thought of 
before it is too late. 

"We ought always to act as in view of 
death, and the judgment. These solemn 
realities are drawing nearer every day ! 
Soon earth, with all its interests and cares, 
will recede from our dying vision. Oh ! 
how bitter must the last hour be to us, if 
we have all our life lived in the neglect of 
what is so plainly our solemn duty, and 
blessed privilege ! Let me beseech you, as 
you are about to close this book ?< to seek 
in the Church, the home of your spirit; 



THE NINTH ARGUMENT. 125 

and you will find it, as the patriarch did, 
"the gate of Heaven. " You will never 
obtain true rest and peace, till you find it 
in the bosom of the Church. " Look 
upon Zion, the city of our solemnities; 
thine eyes shall behold Jerusalem a quiet 
habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be 
taken down ; not one of the stakes there- 
of shall ever be removed, neither shall any 
of the cords thereof be broken." All else 
is unsettled and unstable. Empires fall, 
and nations die ; one generation cometh 
and another goeth : families pass away 
from earth, and all flesh is as the grass be- 
fore the scythe of the mower. All is rest- 
less and vanishing, but the firm founda- 
tions of the eternal Kingdom ! Oh, seek 
rest in it. 

People of the living God ! 
I have sought the world around ; 
Paths of sin and sorrow trod, 

Peace and comfort nowhere found ; 

11* 



126 A HYMN. 

Now to you my spirit turns, 

Turns — a fugitive unblest ; 
Brethren, when your altar burns, 
Oh ! receive me into rest. 



A HYMN. 

I love Thy Kingdom, Lord, 
The house of Thine abode; 

The Church our blest Redeemer saved 
With His own precious blood. 

I love Thy Church, God! 

Her walls before Thee stand, 
Dear as the apple of Thine eye, 

And graven on Thy hand. 

If e'er to bless Thy sons, 

My voice or hands deny, 
These hands let useful skill forsake, 

This voice in silence die. 

If e'er my heart forget 

Her welfare or her wo, 
Let every joy this heart forsake, 

And every grief overflow. 



A HYMN, 127 

For her my tears shall fall, 

For her my prayers ascend ; 
To her my cries and toils be given, 

Till toils and cares shall end. 

Beyond my highest joy, 

I prize her heavenly ways; 
Her sweet communion, solemn vows, 

Her hymns of love and praise. 

Jesus. Thou friend divine, 

Our Saviour, and our King, 
Thy hand, from every snare and foe, 

Shall great deliverance bring. 

Sure as Thy truth shall last, 

To Zion shall be given 
The brightest glories earth can yield, 

And brighter bliss of Heaven. 



THE END. 



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sertion of the meaning of the most difficult words or terms occurring in each 
answer at the end of it. The work, without these derivative explanations, is 
copious, accurate, explicit, and well calculated to blend in the youthful mind 
entertainment which shall be impressive, with instruction which shall be per- 
manent. — Hood's Magazine. 



r 



A NEW AND IMPORTANT EDUCATIONAL WORK. 

WILLEMENT'S CATECHISM OP FAMILIAR THINGS: 

THEIR HISTORY, AND THE EVENTS WHICH LED TO THEIR 

discovery; WITH A SHORT EXPLANATION OP 

SOME OP THE PRINCIPAL 

NATURAL PHENOMENA. 

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES. 

BY EMILY ELIZABETH WILLEMENT. 

CAREFULLY REVISED BY AN AMERICAN TEACHER. 

Extract from the Preface. 

"I wish especially to direct the attention of parents and teachers to the ne- 
cessity of possessing- a work calculated to save them much fatigue in the respon- 
sible office of education. The subjects contained in it may seem in themselrea 
unimportant or insignificant. But do not children often ask a variety of ques- 
tions on those very subjects at times when the parent or teacher is not at leisure 
to answer them properly] — questions on the most simple subjects, asked in 
such a manner as to puzzle the cleverest. Besides, is there one thina: used by 
us in the daily business of life without its historical interest? Decidedly not; 
although, from their commonness, many are passed by as unimportant. I con- 
sider that to trace them to their source is not only amusing, bat highly instruc- 
tive ; for there is scarcely one which is not connected with some epoch import- 
ant in the history of the world." 

OPINIONS OP THE PRESS. 

This very neat little book contains a mass of valuable information, condensed 
in the form of questions and answers, relating to familiar things, about which 
children, and even grown persons, need to be instructed — the history of 
familiar things and the events which led to their discovery, with explanations 
of natural phenomena, <fcc. <tc. For example : there are chapters explanatory 
of Dew, Rain. Atmosphere, Lightning, Twilight, Aurora, &c. <fcc. : of the pro- 
ductions of the earth, such as Corn. Barley, Oats. Potatoes, <tc. ; of manufac- 
tures, as Calico, Cloth, Baize. Linen, Stockings, Shoes. Glass, Mirrors, Specta- 
cles, Mariners' Compass, Magnetic Telegraph, &c. <tc. : of Metals, Precious 
Stones, Architecture, and kindred arts : Music. Painting, and the Arts and Sci- 
ences generally. It is just such a book as every parent should have to instruct 
his child from, and as could be used in a school with great advautage and plea- 
sure to the pupils. — Traveller. 

This volume comprises a large amount of information in regard to every thing 
that man eats, drinks, breathes, wears, uses for building, for ornament or luxury. 
It is a kind of encyclopedia, defining the name, and often the mode of procuring 
or manufacturing, almost every thing used in common life ; and can readily be 
consulted.— Christian Mirror. 

The varied phenomena of earth and air, fire and water, with most of the im- 
portant elements in uature and art. that constitute the globe a fitting habitation 
for our race, are set forth in this volume, in a condensed, pleasant, and instruc- 
tive form. — Episcopal Recorder. 

A novel and very useful peculiarity of this cater;histic compendium is the in- 
sertion of the meaning of the most difficult words or terms occurring in each 
answer at the end of it. The work, without these derivative explanations, js 
copious, accurate, explicit, and well calculated to blend in the youthful mind 
entertainment which shall be impressive, with instruction which shall be per- 
manent. — Hood's Magazine. 



willement's catechism op familiar things. 

Opinions of the Press. 

This is one of the most valuable encyclopaedias for the use of children, we 
have ever seen. It contains many subjects of great importance to the rising 
generation, and is written in a plain style, divested as far as possible of all tech- 
nicalities, treating, in a small space, of the various phenomena of nature, the 
general history of the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, and an outline 
of the arts and sciences. Parents, get it for your children, and by so doing add 
to their knowledge, and save yourselves considerable trouble.— Penn. Telegraph, 

We can very highly recommend this book. It contains a large amount of 
information that immediately concerns every human being. For family reading 
it is especially attractive, and will well repay perusal. It treats of the various 
phenomena of nature, the leading chai-aeteristics and general history of the ob- 
jects of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, and the fundamental 
truths of the arts and sciences. The language of the writer is simple and per- 
spicuous, and will therefore interest juvenile readers. — City Item. 

This is a work of very deep interest, and of great value. The mineral, the 
animal, and the vegetable kingdoms, all pass under review, and are treated in 
a manner to develop and impress the great facts, connected with each, on the 
mind of the student. The arts and sciences also come in for a place, and are 
treated in a similar manner. Children, youth, and families, as a whole, may 
gather much instruction by this book, on the important topics alluded to.— 
Christian Chronicle. 

We have here a great mass of information condensed within very narrow 
limits, touching almost everything that we have to do with in common life. 
There is hardly any thing connected with our food or raiment, our dwellings, 
our occupations, or oar amusements, but what is here very intelligently and 
agreeably discoursed upon, even to the comprehension of a child. If children 
study it well, there is a great chance that they will be wiser in some things 
than their parents.'— Puritan Recorder. 

The work is just such an one as we have long thought would be very accept- 
able to the public, and especially to school teachers. It or something as near 
like it as possible should be in every school m the laud. — Courier. 

It is designed for use in schools and families, and furnishes a most excellent 
and agreeable method of imparting useful knowledge on all familiar subjects, 
their history, their character, <kc. — Bulletin. 

This little work well deserves extensive circulation ; for truly it contains 
"muitum in parvo" of such information as is most likely to arrest the attention 
of youthful minds. The style is easy and pleasant, all technical phrases care- 
fully omitted, and the book well adapted to its purpose of providing " an impor- 
tant auxiliary in the dissemination of useful and entertaining knowledge."— 
Sartains Magazine. 

This book presents a mass of information, in a condensei form, on all kinds 
of things which enter into the every-day concerns of life ; the air we breathe, 
the food we eat, the raiment we are clothed with, the habitations we dwell in, 
the constitution of our mortal frame, arts, commerce and manufactures, are 
cleverly treated of by Question and Answer, and form a mine of useful informa- 
tion. We recommend it to the attention of parents and tutors. — Essex Standard. 

A vast quantity of information is so admirably condensed, and so much really 
useful knowledge is conveyed in so pleasing and intelligible a style, that we can 
honestly award praise We congratulate Mrs. Willement upon having success- 
fully accomplished her task, and heartily recommend her meritorious and un- 
pretending work. — Norfolk Chronicle. 

A useful contribution to the cause of Learning made easy. — Athemxum. 

A compact and well-printed edition of a most useful book for children ; and 
indeed, a book of reference for all.— Jirroid's Weekly Newspaper. 

We confidently recommend it to all who are intrusted with the education of 
children —Ipswich Express. 



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